The Czech Republic has become the only country in Central Europe where gays
and lesbians will be allowed to enter into registered partnerships. The
lower house of Parliament on Wednesday narrowly overturned an earlier veto
by President Vaclav Klaus. Dita Asiedu was there:

Photo: CTK
It was indeed a close shave - just one vote less would have spelled the end
of the bill on same-sex registered partnerships. But instead gays and
lesbians celebrated upon the news that they will now be able to enjoy many
of the rights that married heterosexuals in the Czech Republic simply take
for granted. One of those celebrating is Katerina Benova:

"We are, of course, very happy and we are a bit shocked as it was
quite unexpected because when we came here today we first heard that there
were 110 votes [in favour of the law], then they told us that there are
only 97 votes and we just didn't know how many people would vote for the
bill. So, we're having a little celebration right now and there will
probably be a big party on Friday and Saturday."

Among other things, gays and lesbians will now be allowed to enquire about
their partner's state of health, inherit their partner's property, and
refuse to testify against their partner in a court of law. Homosexual
couples will also be allowed to raise children but not adopt them.

"My name is Slavomir Goga and I am the spokesperson for the gay and
Lesbian League. I'm now a little euphoric after all of the day's
events."

So what's going to happen next?

"The law has been passed but it will be another three months before
it takes effect. We will use these three months to get the public
acquainted with the law. This means that mainly those couples who would
like to enter in the registered partnership will be told what their rights
and responsibilities will be. Then, in mid-June, the first couples will be
able to enter the registered partnership."

"Several couples have already contacted us. One couple, for example,
asked us whether the law will include a couple where one of the partners
is a foreign citizen. So, they were practical questions that we faced and
had to answer."

What's the answer to the question about the foreign partner?

"The condition is that at least one of the partners has to have Czech
citizenship. But the problem is that the law does not include some rights
that married couples enjoy. So, the person who is a foreign citizen will
not automatically gain Czech citizenship and his citizenship procedure
would also not be shortened. So he would still have to apply for
citizenship as if he were not a partner."

But it was a long and hard battle. Six previous attempts failed over the
last decade. The bill on same-sex registered partnerships finally passed
through both houses of Parliament in December, only to be vetoed by
President Vaclav Klaus a few days later. Mr Klaus' main objection was that
the state "would interfere too much in the private lives of
residents". The bill was then sent back to the lower house, where a
majority of at least 101 votes was needed to override the presidential
veto.

But with a bill as controversial as this one, on which deputies would not
vote strictly along party lines but according to their own conscience, it
was unclear whether the majority in parliament would vote for it. The
second-biggest party in the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats,
strongly opposed the bill arguing that homosexual partnerships would be
placed on an almost equal footing with traditional heterosexual marriages,
undermining the importance of the family as an institution. It took Social
Democrat Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek a great deal of lobbying for his
party colleagues to support the bill. And, some opposition Civic
Democrats, who originally supported the bill, threatened to vote against
it: they accused Mr Paroubek of turning it into a party political issue.
In the end, 101 votes and not a single vote more were what the bill got.

Civic Democrat Ivan Langer opposed the bill:

"Well, it's democracy and I have to accept is as a reality. I don't
think we need a special law. We can improve the lives of these people with
an amendment to the Civic Code that will give them their rights."

But Social Democrat MP Jan Kavan was delighted of the outcome:

"I'm glad at the result, although I admit that it was touch and go.
This legislation, although far from being perfect, at least reduces the
certain unfavourable conditions and certain form of discrimination of this
four percent minority. I don't think the legislation contains any seeds of
the kind of apocalyptic future, which many of the e-mail messages that
many of us received during the last few weeks contained when we were told
that this law will undermine the whole role of the family, which is the
basis of the society that we live in and that it would lead to the break
down of interpersonal relations that will be the beginning of Sodom. I
think all of this is exaggerated, including the warning that this is the
first step towards the right of such couples to adopt children."

Opinion polls suggest that just over 60 percent of Czechs approve of gay
marriages. However, less than a third of them would be in favour of a
homosexual couple adopting children. So how do ordinary citizens feel
about the new same-sex registered partnership law? Radio Prague's Chris
Jarret took to the streets of Prague:

Photo: CTK
Woman: "I think it's quite a good thing, yes. I have many friends
among these people and I think it's very good."

Man: "I agree with this. I am not a homosexual but if they asked for
this registration then why not. I'm not against it."

Woman: "I think if two people are together and are of the same sex,
they have a right to be together."

Man: "I agree with this law. I think that gays must have the same
freedom as the majority of the population."